Ark Valley News - South Korea native to pastor local church

Ji Seok Ju and his wife, Ara, have two children, Jeffrey and Jenna. Ju's first Sunday at Valley Center's First United Methodist Church was July 5.

South Korea native to pastor local church
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: July 09, 2015

Ji Seok Ju has found a dance partner.

Ju, the new pastor at First United Methodist Church in Valley Center, started his ministry here on July 5 with a sermon series titled, "Shall We Dance?"

"We need to be dance partners," Ju told the congregation. "… Ultimately, our dance partner is God. We want to let God lead us all the steps of the way."

Ju, 42, has been a full-time Methodist minister for the past 10 years.

He came to the United States from South Korea in 1997, urged to move by his father's friend, who was a pastor in Oklahoma.

Ju attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., and then transferred to Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Okla., earning a bachelor of arts degree.

Ju attended St. Paul School of Theology nearin Kansas City and was a student pastor at a Methodist Church in Reading, which is near Emporia.

After graduating, Ju worked in two churches in Lawrence for four years before being transferred to Wathena, a small town in northeast Kansas.

Ju replaced Erik Rook in Valley Center.

Ju said he has always had a desire to be a pastor.

"I call it God's provision," Ju said. "… The more I do the ministry, the more I build the relationships, the more I know this is where I'm supposed to be."

Ju spent much of July 6 visiting downtown businesses in Valley Center, getting to know people in the community.

"I am not a person who sits in the office," he said. "God is not just inside the church. God is out there working. My focus is to find opportunities to join and serve people in our community, representing Christ."

Ju and his wife, Ara, have two children — Jeffrey will be a seventh-grader, while Jenna will be in fourth grade.

"I feel welcomed and accepted already," Ju said. "… I want to take time to meet people in this community and get to know them and find a way to live a life that pleases God."